Hooper wins England call-up

Gary Hooper, Nathan Baker and Mark Davies have been handed their first call-ups to the England Under-21 squad.

By Pete O'Rourke - Follow me on Twitter @skysportspeteo

Last Updated: 14/03/11 6:43pm

Gary Hooper, Nathan Baker and Mark Davies have been handed their first call-ups to the England Under-21 squad.

Under 21 manager Stuart Pearce has named the pair in a 31-man squad for the forthcoming double-header against Denmark and Iceland.

Hooper was linked with a shock call-up to the full England squad earlier this month, and will have the chance to impress Fabio Capello if selected for the game against Denmark in Viborg on 24th March.

Bolton midfielder Davies has impressed this season after establishing himself as a regular in Owen Coyle's plans.

Villa defender Baker has broken into Gerard Houllier's side this season and he is highly-regarded at Villa Park.

Andy Carroll and Jack Wilshere have been excluded from squad, suggesting Fabio Capello will call up the duo for the seniors' game against Wales in Cardiff next week.

Kyle Walker has dropped back down into the Under 21s after being named in the senior squad for the win against Denmark last month.

Sunderland loan star Danny Welbeck is available again after recovering from injury.

Ipswich striker Connor Wickham is recalled after missing out on the squad to face Italy last time out and Chelsea midfielder Josh McEachran keeps his place after making his debut in Empoli.

There is no place in the squad for Southampton's Alex Chamberlain, who also made his bow against the Italians.

Challenge

Pearce has challenged his players to impress and win a place in his squad for this summer's European Championships in Denmark.

"There are one or two fresh faces in there such as Gary Hooper and Mark Davies but in the main the majority of the players are well known to us and have been involved in the qualifying for the tournament," Pearce told the FA's official website.

"Now's the time for all of the players to impress in the minds of the coaching staff that they want to be the ones stepping on to the plane. At the end of this meet-up I need to be able to make some final decisions about my squad - and I will.

"Both of the teams we'll face will be in the Championships in June so there can be no better warm-up opportunity for us and there will be no underestimating anyone on our part, and I expect the opposition will be thinking much the same about us."